Senate recognizes Berlin Airlift anniversary

  • Published
WASHINGTON (AFPN) --  The U.S. Senate recognized the 60th anniversary of the Berlin Airlift with an official resolution recently.

Introduced by Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina and Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana, the resolution passed the Senate by unanimous consent with no recorded vote and without objection June 26.

The resolution confirmed that the Congress recognizes the 60th anniversary of the Berlin Airlift as the largest and longest-running humanitarian airlift operation in history, and honors the service and sacrifice of the men and women who participated in, and supported, the Berlin Airlift.

On June 26, 1948, the fledgling Air Force began its first major international challenge -- the Berlin Airlift -- two days after Soviet forces blockaded all land routes into the city.

For the next 462 days, the Air Force and its Allies supplied food, coal and other items to the 2.5 million residents of Berlin.

They delivered more than 2.3 million tons of cargo, about 75 percent of it flown on American aircraft. U.S. crews took off more than 189,000 times, totaling about 600,000 hours of flight time, covering more than 92 million miles. Thirty-one Americans lost their lives in 12 crashes.

Simple resolutions are used to express nonbinding positions of the Senate or to deal with the Senate's internal affairs, such as the creation of a special committee. They do not require action by the House of Representatives. 

View resolution here

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